The Rose's Promise
by Sapphire X Dreams
Summary: AU "The rose speaks of love silently, in a language known only to the heart." A small collection of Canon x OC fics for a Valentine's Day challenge taking place in the Heian Imperial Court of Japan.


**WARNING: **I'm going to say this here and now: I'm not even an OC x Canon story fan, in fact, I hate those kind of stories. But I don't mind writing these when they're about my friends. So... YOU WERE WARNED IN THE SUMMARY THAT THIS STORY HAD OCS. IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE OCS IN THIS 'FIC, GO THE HELL AWAY. IF YOU DON'T LIKE,** DON'T READ**, **DON'T COMMENT**, **DON'T COMPLAIN**.

**Disclaimer: **Kishimoto Masashi owns _Naruto_ and all of its characters. _**Mercurylove **_owns Caroline. _**Rokudo Mukuro Fan Haku-chan**_ owns Haku. _RitsukiXShuuko _owns Hoshimi_. _**Sakima**_** no Yuga **_owns Sakima. _**Byakko koumori **_owns Sashimi. Tears_ of Remembrance _owns Namida. _**Sapphire X Dreams **_owns Sayuri. _**Yumi Seiji **_owns Yumi.

**A/N: **This collection of drabbles was done for a Valentine's Day Drabble Challenge that I'm participating in. :'D And since the genre is romance, enjoy the inner works of my unrelenting failure in this genre. Some take place in the Heian Era, so I might not get every detail correct, though I did some research.

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**Theme: **_Vacation_

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Haku picked at her _juunihitoe _again, practically sweating under the twenty kilograms of yellow, red, purple, and orange silk.

"Why does it have to be so heavy?" she mundanely asked her mother, glancing up at her as she did so. However, she was answered only with a loud, "Shh!" and was instantly silenced.

At that moment, Princess Haku was sitting in seiza as her mother bent over her, preparing her make up and making her look like a proper 'woman'.

Truly, Haku loved looking nice, but she had to put her foot down when she was told that she must blacken her teeth. Her mother didn't seemed to care much, though, dismissing it only with, "It looks good."

"But I'm not even eighteen yet!" her daughter protested, standing up abruptly. She was just pushed back down by her mother who shook her head roughly and added, "It still looks nice."

"Now," her mother spoke again, her voice only a little softer, "wait here. I shall get the _kanemizu_ and from there begin the _ohaguro_."

With the closing of the door, silence lapsed, and Haku looked down at her hands, twisting one of her fingers.

Not only had she gotten a new kimono (she didn't mind _that_ too much, but she hated how it was so heavy), but after her mother gathered the rest of the supplies, there was going to be a lot more added to change her look.

For one, she was dreading the fact that she was going to have to _shave_ her eyebrows and then _re-paint_ new ones on. Next, she was to powder her entire face white. _Then_, add some red powder to her cheeks.

In truth, she didn't care how beautiful people thought this process was, it sickened her.

Grabbing two large fistfuls of her dress, she trekked out of the room, as discreetly as she could.

The room was dark, but she still was able to make her way to the door that lead to the tsukubai garden outside.

Groping around, her fingers finally brushed against the door. And, biting her lip, she tore the door open, praying that no one heard her as she made her escape.

Only when the door was completely closed behind her did she let loose a loud, ragged breath. Wiping sweat away with her long sleeve, she peeked around the bend, again praying that no one had seen her.

When she was sure no one was watching, she tiptoed over towards the tsukubai, ignoring the fact that she could dirty or tabi socks doing so.

She tiptoed over towards the pond, having completely forgotten to check the other side of the palace to check for people watching her.

And of course, there _was_ someone watching her.

She got as far as to the pond, craning her neck to see a display of small orange goldfish swimming to and fro, freely.

A smile crept across her face, eyes brightening. Bending over, to dipped her index finger into the water, stirring up minute waves and scattering the fish about.

"And that's all you need."

Her eyes widened and she jerked around to where the voice had come from. It didn't sound like anyone she knew...

Instead, a white-haired male in princely attire, staring right at her as if he wasn't some kind of stranger.

She immediately went on the defensive, backing away only slightly. She racked her brain, going through a list of familiar faces to see if he was one of them.

Nothing. She had never seen him.

"What do you mean by that?"

Instead of answering, his eyes lowered towards the pond that was behind her.

"Unless you want to scare the fish away and get soaked –among other things– why don't you come closer this way? Are you scared of me?"

That hit a bit below the belt for her. She scowled slightly, though not necessarily angry at him, and stalked over towards him, stopping at a safe distance in front of him.

"Now, what did you mean? About what you said earlier?"

He shrugged as if he didn't know what she was talking about, still keeping his mouth shut. As he adjusted his sleeve, he listlessly crept over to Haku, walking behind her and embracing her.

She narrowed her eyes, still keeping her guard up in case he tried anything _too _immoral.

"Maybe all you need is just a vacation," he susurrated directly in her ear.

Thinking it over again, she thought that he might be right. Her mother was driving her crazy as she tried to turn her into a becoming young lady. When she wasn't, her father was running her back and forth, attempting to turn her into a prodigy.

When she wasn't studying the poetic works of Sugawara-no-Michizane, she (as well as Lady Yumi, Lady Namida, Lady Sashimi, and Lady Caroline) were watching Princess Namiko as she blackened her teeth or played the seven-string Chinese zither or _biwa_.

A vacation did sound refreshing.

Before she got too deep into her fantasies, she turned around towards the white-haired male, finally being able to place his face.

"You're Kaguya-no-Kimimaro, aren't you?"

Her mother had told her that a band of princes were visited the palace over the next few days, searching for brides and ladies in waiting _for _their brides.

Of course, her mother had dolled her up so she would get picked by one of these many princes.

The man (now named) nodded, his face glowing by the fact alone that she knew his name. "I'm touched," he joked, his smile small.

Haku giggled to herself, beaming. "And how often do _you_ take a vacation, Kimimaro-sama?"

He glanced at her after hearing that nickname, then shrugged loosely. "Not enough. My servants are most likely running about crazily right now, appalled by my absence."

Her smiled thinned out.

"Why would they be looking frantically for you?"

"I have tuberculosis."

Her heart sank down to her feet, and her smile fell right off her face with her heart.

"What?"

At that moment, they both heard a loud, strident call of both of their names simultaneously.

Haku cringed, then scowled and readied herself to turn back into the room in front of her. She sure hadn't gotten very far or gotten much accomplished in her time away from that prison.

She directed her blue eyes up towards Kimimaro's face wondering exactly what he'd do now. When she saw him sigh and shake his head, she knew that this would probably be the last time she'd see him.

"Well... goodbye," her voice was shaky as she tried to hold back some kind of emotion.

"I'll never forget you, though."

She stopped abruptly, glancing back at him.

He already had his back to her, though, and he was already on his merry way back to the servants he had left.

"_Likewise_",she whispered to herself. And even though her voice had been so low even _she_ could barely hear it, he smiled.

"I'll meet you tonight, near the pond," he called.

"I'll be waiting," she responded.

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**A/N: **I finished reading this in only a few minutes but it took FOREVER to write. Why? I have no idea. To clear things up, I heard somewhere that Kimimaro had tuberculosis, but when I looked at his bio, it only said he had "an illness".

Also, Lady Namiko is a random person I created. Think nothing of her. |D


End file.
